Dr. Margaret Gingrich 106 Chestnut Street, Big Rapids, MI 49307

"Read a lot of reviews to choose the right dentist after moving to the area couple years ago. This place was definitely the right choice. The staff is very nice and welcoming, and Dr. Margaret really knows her stuff. As a U of M graduate, really cool that she would open a practice in Northwest Michigan. Glad she is here to service our teeth."

"Wonderful dental family! Dr. Gingrich addressed my concerns and I had great results! Very kind and sensitive to my needs and concerns. Highly recommend!"

"Great dentist and very efficient process. Managed to take care of all 17 cavities I had in the past and was a joy to talk to during the process. Its been about two years and my teeth feel amazing. Glad I went here!"

"Margaret Gingrich has been my dentist for about five years. When I first started seeing her I hadn't had dental care in about 15 years, I had developed a few cavities, periodontal disease, and sensitivity due to grinding, so I needed some extra care during cleanings, a few fillings, and a bite guard. I have always been pleased with Dr. Gingrich's bedside manner and her efforts to make dental work as painless as possible. Denise is my dental hygienist and she does a wonderful job, she also has a very pleasant bedside manner and always takes care to make cleanings as painless as possible. The office staff is always friendly and professional. No complaints."

"My Amish sister had a very traumatic experience with taking her 4 year old son to see Dr Margaret. The treatment my 4 year old nephew received was horrific to say the least. Dr Margaret loudly scolded him for the majority of his visit to get fillings in several baby teeth. He started to cry because he was afraid and then started to fight her when cold water and air hit his severely infected tooth. The local anesthesia didn't work properly due to an infection and the pain was excruciating for him. Dr Margaret should not have touched that tooth without ridding it of infection first and she should have known this. His gums were inflamed in that area and it was very painful to the point he could not even chew on that tooth. During the time she worked on his teeth she scolded him saying he was "too old to behave like that" among many other insulting words. She asked the boy's dad, my brother in law, to sit on his son to hold him down, to which my brother in law refused. My nephewed screamed in pain and she only yelled at him louder and at one point the pain was so unbearable that my nephew bit down on Dr Margaret's hand and she slapped him in the face! She then put in a temporary filling by grabbing my nephew around his head and holding him down inspite of him screaming in anguish saying she was hurting him. Dr Margaret yelled back saying, "I am not hurting you." He choked on fragments of the filling because Dr Margaret didn't use a suction device at this time and her response to him choking was, "This is what you get for behaving like this." She told my sister that they need to take him to Grand Rapids to a pediatric dentist where they handle "out of control kids". My nephew got so bewildered that he was beside himself and severely traumatized by the experience. All who know my nephew know that he is not dramatic but very calm and even keeled. Because my sister's Amish religion requires them to be non-resistant they remained calm and didn't fight back. They even had my nephew apologize to Dr Margaret for biting her to which he complied. They paid for their visit and the fillings he got AFTER such horrible, abusive and completely unprofessional treatment. Here is what I would have done. The first time she insulted my child I would have taken my child out of there and would have reported her to law enforcement. She would not have gotten as far as slapping his face. My sister is very traumatized and couldn't eat for the next few days. She felt like such a horrible mom to have allowed anyone to abuse her son in front of her own eyes. I don't agree with the Amish non-resistant belief but my heart hurts for my most kind and sincere younger sister who felt victimized and intimidated by Dr Margaret's tactics to also scold her for not brushing her son's teeth properly. Dr Margaret was out of line and her acts against my nephew were criminal. Had this happened to anyone else it would at the very least have resulted in a criminal investigation. I only wish my sister would agree to file charges against her. My brother in law called the office back and spoke to Dr Margaret to explain that after talking with their son they believed he was telling the truth about the pain he was experiencing. Not once did Dr Margaret apologize nor offer to refund them their payment. When they asked her about a tooth infection she used the fancy term "gingivitis" probably knowing full well that they don't know what that term means. She blamed his inflammation on improper brushing of teeth in an attempt to again shift all blame away from herself. Clearly a real dentist with one look could see there was an infection. Dr Margaret was in a rush and more interested in filling as many teeth as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. If she doesn't have the patince and gentleness needed to work with children she shouldn't accept them as patients. The dental assistant was present and witnessed all of this abuse. She remained quiet but seemed to feel very badly for my sister and her son."